The city’s Economic Development Corp. has put $25 million up for grabs for high-tech start-ups.

The $25 million Emerging Industries Fund is being offered as an incentive to attract tech firms to the Big Apple, which competes with Massachusetts, California and a host of Silicon Valley wannabes.

Along with Internet startups, which have become the goose that laid the golden egg for the taxman in the last two years, the fund is targeting telecommunications, biotechnology and software firms.

The money to be handed out will be in seed-level amounts, between $100,000 and $1.5 million, with an emphasis on investments of less than $750,000. They will be structured as equity or debt, or a combination of both.

Randy Levine, deputy mayor for economic development, planning and administration, said in a statement “the city will benefit from the revenue generated by this burgeoning sector.”

The EDC will issue requests for proposals to select a venture capital firm to serve as an adviser, and a law firm to draft investment proposals.

The EDC itself, however, will act like a venture capital firm, studying business plans and deciding which entrepreneurs benefit, with the approval of a seven-member board delegated by the mayor and the city council.

The deals will be all-cash offerings, unlike those that have recently benefited StarMedia, the Latino ISP, and DoubleClick, both of which got sales and energy tax breaks to keep them from moving to New Jersey.

“We know how difficult it can be for young companies to obtain early-stage financing,” said Levine.

All companies eligible for assistance by the fund must be located in or moving to New York City.